UKC

A new thread is posted each week on Sunday for anyone to jot down their previous week's activity. UKC fit club is a rich community with posters sharing their goals, noting successes and failures and offering support to those struggling to maintain motivation. Anyone interested in starting is very welcome to join, but to get the most of UKC fit club you should aim to post each week, every week, however little or much you have done. By making such a regular public record of your activities and by restating your goals every week this new habit will hopefully improve your training habits and drive you towards achieving your goals whatever the level of your chosen activity.

The following training article by Alex Barrows gives an excellent breakdown on training the four main "energy systems" specific to climbing:- http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/training-for-sport-climbi...     also this - https://www.instagram.com/p/CEGfCg7DbkK/?igshid=4a1o55jwpus2

For those wanting to find out more about training for climbing a number of physical training articles are linked here:- http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=274502

Last weeks post - https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/walls+training/ukc_fit_club_week_722-7301...

UKC Psyche Thread: for those who haven't already noticed it, check out Martin Haworth's excellent thread on "The route you want to climb above all others (in 2021)" https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/rock_talk/the_route_you_want_to_climb_abo.... Some excellent ideas and inspirations in there. The predominance of trad and alpine goals is striking - in my case too. Although I keep saying I'm a sport climber these days, when push came to shove and I could only name one route, it had to be a big Dolomites adventure (Alex?)

STG: do a week's Fit Club stats without typos that I don't notice until it's too late. I blame the famously crap Macbook Pro keyboard!

AJM - you seem to be keeping the lockdown motivation going. I look forward to the l-sit to tuck planche report. You do realise that once you're getting close, you'll have to film every training session just in case?

alexm198 - encouraging progress on the running, and good use of the fact that we're actually still aloowed out to some parts of the mountains. Are the Jochberg gullies in? Probably too easy for you though.

Ally Smith - peak baby and still managing to get a couple of decent sessions in is a good effort

biscuit - looking forward to the "after" benchmarks in a few weeks' time

Cyan - hungover yoga is better than no yoga.

Intergalactic Planetary - welcome! I've seen that "huge volume of easy moves" approach recommended for base endurance. The first time I tried it it worked, but I also ended up with my first ever case of golfer's elbow. So be careful.

Liam P - impressivley consistent efforts there

Neil Kazimierz Sheridan - top marks for weird improvised exercise equipment. And consistency.
  
Ross Barker - until your recent reports I had no idea there was anything at Nesscliffe other than scary hard trad routes done by Nick Dixon.

Si dH - rehab progress sounds promising

Somerset swede basher - always good to hear when the plan is working

the sheep - as a former member of the Bowline Jogging Club I'll definitely be following the Leicestershire Ultra progress. You're all making me keen to get through my prehab plan and (re-) start running myself.

Tom Green - I think most of us here are old & broken enough to appreciate the wisdom of skipping the board sesh if you had a niggly shoulder.

AlanLittle -  you were firmly plateaued on the max hangs, give repeaters a chance. No giving in to "my skin hurts" excuses

Absent - planetmarshall, Tyler 
 

How does your max load vary between holds?

I only ask because I realised a while ago that certainly on assisted 1 arm work my gradient was fairly flat - (based on bw minus counterweight, no allowance for pulley friction) 67kg on Lattice or a less rounded 15mm, 68-9kg on a less rounded 20mm, 71kg on the lattice jug - which led me to wonder whether the fact my shoulders were clearly at near max was blocking/ hindering progress on the fingers.

One for the thread - the guy who wrote Overcoming Gravity has become/was already a (pretty good) climber - an interesting view on pull training I thought might be of interest.....

https://www.instagram.com/p/CKZlOm8j8Js/?igshid=b6rd35790xhh

Edit to add: a few other thoughts on bodyweight and other relevant training exercises in his other posts further down. Some uncommon ones on there.

Edit^2:

Many other thoughts here:

https://stevenlow.org/my-6-year-self-assessment-of-climbing-strength-traini...

Yeah, I‘ve read some of Steven Low‘s climbing and tendinitis stuff and found it interesting, seems like a smart guy. The cost of OG has so far put me off acquiring a copy

Two weeks for me this week. Did absolutely nothing in week 722 and reached a low on Wednesday this week when I thought I’d pack FC in however....

T: picked up a kettlebell during a call and did some presses. Inspired I hung my fingerboard on a perlin in the attic. The perlin is a bit low so probably only useful for foot on stuff which is fine at the moment. Did 3x5 pull-ups on the perlin and then 10, 15, 20 press-ups. 
F: Morning  presses. Back to the Outhouse for the first time in over a month. Started well with a flash of Orange but then failure on reds. 
S: Short run where I made an effort to keep going on the uphills which nearly killed me, sobering. 25 mins “yoga”.

S: Outhouse, managed red after much effort. 25 mins yoga. 
Decided to try and just do a few short sessions a week and see if I can get some enthusiasm up. 
 

Evening Alan, thanks for the stats. 

Funny that you should mention the Jochberg, I just got back! Not in great condition at the moment but climbable. Details below. And yes, I would be very psyched to do something together in the Dolomites. Perla Nera looks excellent and esoteric---a winning combo!

Week 8:

Big week this week, but overall I felt really strong on the runs (especially Saturday's) and am pleased with the effort and progress I've made this block. Looking forward to easing off a bit next week as per the training plan. 

M Rest. Shin prehab 2.0 (3 sets of 25 reps on each side of side lying leg raises and single leg calf raises, as prescribed by Dr Biscuit)

T 9.81km Z1. Felt good and well-rested.

W 8.38km Z1. Shin prehab 2.0.

T 10.15km Z1. 

F Rest. Core work. Shin prehab 2.0.

S 29.17km Z1. Felt like I needed a change of scenery so planned a little tourist sights of Munich trip and ran my way round them. Running through the Altstadt with a mask got me some weird looks but wasn't too bad, and got to catch a gorgeous sunset lighting up the Rathaus. Trying to get used to eating a bit more on the long runs, the homemade granola bars and dried apricots were a success, but something to continue experimenting with over the coming weeks and months. Overall, felt really strong on this run. Heart rate felt a little high to begin with (~150) but eventually came down. The splits were remarkably consistent as well, between 8:30-9:00/mile the whole time.

S Dragged myself out of bed much earlier than I'd have liked to go and climb the Jochberg Nordwand for the first time. We wanted to do the Via Classica, but ended up getting a bit lost and doing what seemed to be the Softice variation into Via Classica, which is nominally M7 but was nowhere near that today. Felt like Scottish V. Got wildly lost in the top section and had to do a lot of tree-wrestling to earn the topout! The Jochberg is cool, and especially since it's only an hour away, but I cannot believe people call this Germany's Ben Nevis. Insulting to the Ben!

Last week's goals:

• 61km running [Tick, strictly 57.51km but I am including the cross-training of Sunday's approach/descent etc.]
• 2x core routine [1/2]
• Daily shin prehab [Tick, not daily but "3-5 times per week" as suggested]
• Possibly some more ice? [Tick]

Goals:

STG (This Week)

• 51.5km running
• 1 core routine
• 3 shin prehab
• 1 day climbing if circumstances permit

MTG (End of June 2021)

• Finish the Zugspitz Ultratrail
• 3 x big winter alpine routes

LTG (End of 2021)

• Himalaya Expedition (or plan B)

Cheers Alan.

4x solid sessions this week. I had to nip in to work Fri/Sat which threw me off a bit but still happy with progress.

Monday: 3x3 Offset Pulls 40/27mm (2fingers), 6x14 Offset Push-ups, 3x20 weighted crunches (5kg), 3x14s tuck L-tucks

Tuesday: Min Edge Hangs 5x4(7/30) 10mm, Hero Stretch, 3x5s head bridge (6” push off the deck), 3x30s handstands

Wednesday: 3x1 Offset Pulls 40/18mm (2 fingers), 4x16 Offset Push-ups

Thursday: Rest Day

Friday: Rest Day

Saturday: Min Edge Hangs 3x4(7/30) 10mm, 3x15 weighted crunches (12kg), Hero stretch, 3x10s head bridge (12” push), Pike stretch, 3x8 tuck L-tucks (6” extension), 3x4 handstand pushup (6” dip)

Sunday: Rest Day

Legs are slowly straightening on the L Sits and I’m getting a decent dip on the handstand push-ups. Last week I mentioned a back bridge felt impossible but I’m pushing up around a foot now. After a lot of googling I found a detailed progression on, of all places....a Pole Dancing Forum!

Mon: Walked to work. This is exercise of a sort, right? Forty minutes across the marshes - actually pretty lovely.

Tues: Walked in. 30 mins yoga. I have a lot of trouble with cramping leg muscles and associated knee, hip and back pain; there was a period last year where I was hurting all the time and struggling to walk. Regular yoga keeps me pretty much pain free, it's strong motivation.

Wedns: Walked in. Many hours at work.

Thurs: Walked in. 

Fri: Rest.

Sat: Several hours dog walking. 30 mins yoga.

Sun: About an hour's walk in the snow. 60 mins yoga.

Aiming to (finally) get my lattice assessment done this week.

Yep, there's actually a surprising amount of bouldering in Shropshire generally, with quality varying from "pretty hard" to "could be mistaken for cous-cous".

Had a decent week, got some good finger work in as well as antagonist sessions. Unfortunately all three pairs of my shoes need resoling, so I'm going to not be doing any climbing for a couple of weeks unless I decide to pick up a cheap pair on eBay.

Last Week:

M - 4 or 5 sets of 10 pushups. Triceps definitely felt it, perhaps not 100% recovered since last session?

T - Density hangs. 4x35s with 3 mins rest, -9kg. Failed on set 4 at 25 seconds, started getting pumped earlier and it just wouldn't go away! Had to push through because I was limited on time and couldn't faff around with depumping. Box split and hamstring stretches before bed.

W - Rest

T - Antags, 3x10 pushups, 3x10 band pull-aparts, 3x8 incline pushups, 3x8 heavy band pull-aparts.

F - Rest

S - Rigpa. Following the trend of each session being better than the last, got really close to latching the penultimate hold. Tried the dropknee beta but it's harder with long legs, comically stacked it onto my arse when I tried it. Refined beta is to flag the left foot beneath the right, seems to take a bit off the left hand.

S - Rest, but will diligently stretch before bed, I promise!

Next Week:

M - Max Hangs

T - Antagonists, stretches

W - Density hangs

T - Rest, stretches

F - Antagonists

S - Max hangs, stretches

S - Rest

Goals:

Don't get injured

Suavito (on hold)

Tierdrop (on hold)

Rigpa (going rather well for something hard)

I thought it was interesting - I'm definitely not trying to sell it as "right", more for an interesting perspective - because he is obviously very self analytical (which is an interesting exercise to watch/read) and he also comes into climbing from a fairly high level in a relevant discipline (ok, I've no idea how good he would be seen as in the world of calisthenics/gymnastics/whatever, but coming into climbing being able to do a whole bunch of one arm chins, and also probably more strong pushing than most very strong climbers - heavily weighted dips etc), and it's an interesting combination to see his views on. Not many people rating strict muscle ups above one arm pullups for climbing training, that sort of thing - interesting things to think about.

OG I do like, although I got it for a present so didn't have to worry about the cost. I suspect the right YouTube videos (if one could tell what "right" is!) could cover a lot of the stuff in form etc, there's a lot of stuff about structuring and scheduling training which is quite useful, although there's some overlap with the standard sports science sort of stuff you'd find in most climbing training books. Still a good package though.

Greetings comrades. Good stat-game Alan. Niggles mostly under control this week, perhaps partly because I haven't had a particularly intense training week.

Week 3:

Dropped one board sesh and one fingerboard sesh. Ticked everything else.

M: Prehab.

T: Rest.

W: Max Hangs. Strength Sesh. 

T: Board Sesh: AnCap and sorted a new, harder circuit (off the back of last week's fitclub chat). Trail Run: a tentative 5km shuffle after last week's sore hip... all good, 5:18/km

F: Alpine start and finish for work.

S: Trail Run: 7.3km, 102m vert, 5:40/km. A pretty joyous trip through ankle deep mud (good snow wading specificity?!) and fording a few floods (in-run ice bath!). Prehab.

S: Leg strength testing sesh -thanks Biscuit! Then max hangs and strength sesh.

Week 3:

Fingerboard sesh x 3

Strength sesh x 2

Climbing x 2

Run x 2

STG (End Q1):

Max Hang total 79kg

Weighted Pull-up total 83kg

Jug circuit 5-on, 3-off

Board Problem 'GTH'

Curfew (6b+)

Run average 25km/week and Edale Skyline

MTG (End Q2):

Max Hang total 84kg

Weighted Pull-up total 88kg

Jug circuit 10-on, 10-off

Board Problem 'Le Grimpeur'

Eliminator (V4)

Grid Iron (6c)

Black Wall (E1 5b)

Run average 35km/week and Cheshire Gritstone Trail

LTG (End Q3):

Yates' Layaway (f6B+) 

Jack the Smuggler (7a)

Black Wall Direct (E2 5c)

Cairngorm Classic Rock IAD, El Cap nose-day (880m climbing) and Welsh 3000s

2020 Goals:

35 E-points

Run 30km vertical (and >1000km)

I enjoyed reading that psyche thread but didn't write anything. Vaguely similarly to you, if I had to choose a single route to inspire me it would definitely be a big trad route, but I only really boulder these days with an occasional sport foray.  I obviously get psyched by individual boulder problems when I'm projecting them but it's a very different thing. I haven't climbed a significant amount of trad since 2013 and don't have anything like the time required to get properly in to it again - maybe in another decade or so. Anyway...

M: rest

T: 7th session of physio exercises. One with bodyweight +8kg, three with +12.5kg, one with +17kg, one with +26.5kg, one with +31kg. I braved the cold and videoed myself doing the first and fifth sets topless to see how healthy my shoulder movement looked. I was happy with it, which gave me confidence to push it more on the last two sets. Form on the last set didn't feel as good though.

W: rest

T: board session. The best one since my latest finger flare up started. Did a new 7A ish problem and a couple of other similar difficulty things.

F: rest

S: I did a hip mobility routine that I found on YouTube, followed by 3x10 second L-sits (I thought I better try some of these since Magnus says I need them to climb 8a again! I can do them ok with hands on the floor as fists but it felt hard by the end of the third.

S: 8th set of physio exercises. One set with bodyweight, one with bodyweight +14kg, one with bodyweight +26kg, but I wasn't happy with my form so dropped back to +17kg for the final three sets. This is the most weight I can comfortably add without using my weight vest as all my weights are bulky old plastic and concrete things. I find the weight vest a bit restrictive for scapular pull-ups, which might also be an indication it isn't great for my posture more generally. Might need to invest in some proper plate weights.

I have put together a more structured training plan for the next couple of months. The point is to incorporate two sessions per week of continued physio/rehab sessions on a fingerboard and one or two per sessions on the board, but always having a rest day in between. I also want to make sure I do a bit of core and flexibility work and remember to keep stretching my fingers (hook grip). So I'm planning to do it all on a rolling 8-day schedule as follows, 3 weeks on, rest week, 3 weeks on, etc:

Day 1 - physio exercises incl scap pullups as per recent weeks, after a bit longer I aim to progress to doing them one armed

Day 2 - hook grip stretching (basically a rest day)

Day 3 - board session (I will try a lattice crimpd app 'board 10' session for a bit of structure

Day 4 - hip mobility routine ( youtube.com/watch?v=_yk_EMQDM_Q&) and 3 * 10 L-sits

Day 5 - modified version of the physio session I've been doing, adding more weight and doing it as repeaters rather than a single 30 second hang to start working my fingers a bit harder (this will require some plate weights), then TRX (upper body - low rows, IYWs, reverse flies, flies - and hamstring curls)

Day 6 - hook grip stretching (basically a rest day)

Day 7 - board session - plan is for this to be a fairly short session trying a project on the board, followed by some weighted pull-ups (5x5 or maybe just 3x5)

Day 8 - hip mobility routine and a core session - I'll probably do the crimpd 'floor core' session as I found that good a few years ago

After 8 weeks it'll be about Easter. I'm planning then to adapt the fingerboard routine and, if allowed, switch out a board session for an outside bouldering session, but otherwise keep the same structure. 

I'm sure this will all fall down occasionally due tomwork or parenting related tiredness and lack of time, but I think I should be able to make a good effort for the most part. Any comments on the plan welcome.

Si

Thanks Alan, great continued work on the stats. This week I actually touched a dry rock! Highlight of the last 2 months.

Mon. Max hangs, largely ignored what I said I'd do. 3x26kg, 2x 27kg and 1x28kg. All felt OK, will smash some more on next time. 5x5 pull ups +12kgs. 3x10 press ups. Nice to still be making progress. Wonder if it will translate to anything once the lime is all dry again? 

Tues. 10km run. Contrasting halves, first 5km on off camber mud/rock/roots above Bell Hagg which was slow then return leg down the conduit which was smooth and fast. 6.30/km on the way out 4.30/km on the way back. 

Wed. 6xrepeaters +5kgs (or was it 6?). 5x5 on the min pull ups and 3x10 press ups. 

Thurs. 3x 10mins on 10mins off moving around the attic. Put the bike on the rollers in the porch, equivalent of a flat 20km.

Fri. Mostly rest, walked the kids up Lose Hill, 300m ascent. 

Sat. Went bouldering at Smallfield. Unfortunately the main roof was wet so did the circuit of easier stuff in the Dale. About 15 problems mostly font6 something. Filled in the obvious eliminate of Las Lechuzas (No Foot Crack) (f7A) which I suspect only hasn't been done as very few people visit the area. One of few problems that climbs much more logically as an eliminate.

Sun. Felt pretty worked after yesterday. Skin is good though so maybe get a lamp session in Monday eve. Walked the kids up to the trig point on Totley Moor. - 2 all the way. Fun to see all the pairs of mountain bikers out in the snow and the man with a paraglider valiantly failing to get enough lift to take off. 

I once spoke to a guy who was off to Scotland to do the Cuillin Ridge as "training for the Jubiläumsgrat". He was in for a major disappointment when he got onto his big goal!

My natural/strongest grip is four finger open, on which I'm a good 20kgs stronger than on strict half crimp. (If grip types is what you meant?)

My last couple of max hang cycles have been strict half crimp to try to narrow that gap, and that's where I feel my progress has stalled out after the last few weeks.

STG: Weight back below 85kg. Start Couch To 5k.
MTG: Go climbing after lockdown? Get vaccinated before I get infected. 
LTG: Be a confident, well rounded low to mid 7's sport climber by 2021. For measurable definition see Fit Club 658

M: Rest day

T: Beastmaker. My one weekly max hangs session, working on strict half crimp form on which I'm still around 20kgs weaker than open hand.

W-F: Big thaw. Had hoped to get out bouldering but I have a cold. I hope! Test result pending

S: Beastmaker repeaters, weighted pull-ups, running prehab, shoulder pressing, wrist extensors

S: Another boys' hillwalking trip with my son in Chiemgau. Best bit of the week. Same summit as last week, via a different route - chose this because we now know that the hut at the top, although closed like every other hut, has a beer fridge in the porch with an honesty box. Very civilised. And 900 metres of ascent in a couple of hours, in snow wearing big boots, strongly suggests there's nothing majorly wrong with my respiratory system. (Yet?)

Not a good week. Ten months of working from home, five of which in lockdown, have ground me down mentally and physically. Culminating this week in three days doing nothing but sit around and comfort eat while hoping my cold symptoms are just cold symptoms. I hit my lifetime weight peak - this has to change, see STG.

German lockdown also extended by two weeks to mid February, and hands up anybody who seriously believes that will be the end of it?

I was thinking more hold size than hold type (I.e. how does your four finger open vary between a small hold, a large hold and a jug - how close are you to making out your shoulders in your max hangs).

i haven’t tested myself 2 handed on bigger holds so I may have more clearance there but I definitely found on one arm assisted stuff I wasn’t that much better on a jug or bar than an edge (I can lock off one armed on a bar at full lock, usually, but I can’t hang in a “shoulder/elbow engaged but arm fairly straight” position at bodyweight). May be I have particularly weak shoulders and that no one else has this problem!

Ah, ok. I'm hanging about 20kg more on the BM1000 medium edge (~20mm) than on the BM1000 small (~14mm). I don't often go smaller than that, but when I do I'm about 5kgs less again on Progression or BM 10mm.

I've never felt the need to seriously attempt a two arm max hang on anything bigger. I can hang the BM1000 jugs one-handed at about the same weight as I can the 14mm two-handed, but it feels pretty marginal for my shoulders.

Thanks Alan! I took a before video, I don’t know if there’ll be a defined ta-dah moment for after as I assume there’ll be one which hits the grey area of looking messy-but-believable first and then hopefully it’ll then get cleaner over time. But I will definitely have the phone on hand to video!

I enjoyed the “one route” thread, although I didn’t pick a multi pitch adventure, partly because I tried to limit myself to things I actually had vague plans towards doing this year. Im hoping there will be more opportunities this year than last especially as microAJM gets a bit older but I suspect it will be next year before horizons open more significantly.

Work has really ramped up this week. For me, it’s a lot easier to find motivation in the day to train (catching up the work in the evening is then non optional) than in the evening, when I tend to gravitate to easier things that can be done in the living room whilst being vaguely social (harder to motivate myself to go upstairs to do foc or pull really hard on weighted pull ups on my own after a hard day). I ended up in the same place - 730pm and not yet done anything - today which was a bit of a struggle to get going from. 

As a result, I am therefore doubly pleased to have still kept up Sharkathon and good volume of reasonably relevant training during the week. I could have done a bit more - I suspect I’ve done more like one session of pulling than two, and no campusing - but nevertheless if it weren’t for the plan I could easily have crashed down to 2 sessions or something.

The start of this week looks like mayhem at work but this close to the end of Jan Sharkathon compleation ought to give me the impetus to continue. I think I might mix it up a bit though, after 3 weeks with lots of pushing, some pulling and maintenance climbing I might turn priorities on their head a bit, so ambitious mini goals for the week:

- go for a run, just to be outside

- 2 foot on campus sessions, at least one of which has to be higher intensity 1-on-1-off (harder to schedule perhaps, as currently the 5-3-5-3-5 I can do as quasi-rest from pushing and pulling)

- 2 campus or fingerboard session

- some sort of pushing and pulling - 1 session of each? - as maintenance.

Looking to February, I’d quite like to shift to the higher end foot on campus, maybe up the volume of climbing-specific stuff a bit and perhaps sacrifice a bit of pulling to do that. Along the way, I could really do with dumping some weight. There’s a bit of me hopes some of it is muscle, but I am definitely heavier than I have been in years. Then going into March probably focus in on more bouldering specific stuff (dump the aerocap in particular) in the hope of being able to go away at Easter, Covid permitting. As per your post, I’m not sure I necessarily believe in it but got to have something to aim for...

Monday - pushing (dips, rto holds, pseudo planche pushup, normal pushup, a few static leans) plus a little pike compression work and some l-sits 

Tuesday - left it a bit late in the day. Some more compression work and stretching.

Wednesday - warmed up to try campusing but there seemed to be no zip. Decided to swerve onto weighted pull-ups. Loaded up to just under 90kg, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 4. Felt like a better effort than last week - still hard obviously but less scrappy, a bit more controlled. Then in the evening some more pushups.

Thursday - 5-3-5-3-5 aerobic foot on campus.

Friday - 3 sets pushups, 3 static leans, with compression holds between reps. 

Saturday - miniAJMs birthday - about 25m pram pushing in the morning and then about 3 miles with TSMotP along the beach in the pm

Sunday - the day passed in a fit of absent mindedness. Felt tired by the end of it. This evening I’ve loaded myself up to slightly over 90kg for pull-ups - 5x5 completed. Pretty close to/at previous p.b. So going to nudge the weight up slowly over the next few goes at this.

Hey all! Been meaning to join for a while, but until now hadn't got round to it. Started a Lattice plan ~9 weeks ago, which has given me the accountability and consistency I needed having been plateaued for a few years. I don't keep a journal or anything like that, so figured this could function as a meaningful replacement (and provide ample psyche!)

Currently on week 10 of 12 of the current training cycle, so pretty much peak intensity in terms of load - trying desperately to avoid injuries or overtraining as these have sidelined me in the past..

M - rest, hip stretches 

T - 8x10s +10kg/18mm max hangs. Doing these open-handed at the moment as have a slight middle finger niggle that I want to avoid aggregating. I also want to get out of the habit of crimp overuse, and figure strengthening other grip types is a pretty good antidote. 6 in 6/ancap work (though more like 7-8 in 6 due to the shortness of my board)

W - light board session, followed by 1 on 1 off (feet on floor)

T - floor core

F - max hangs (as on Tues). Boulder doubles (though more like triples, short board etc). Emphasis on pinchy routes - partly for variety, partly for injury prevention purposes. Felt pretty strong here. Then 4 x 3 pull-ups +20kg (~127% BW)

S - rest. Very gentle 3k run in the afternoon, the first in a few weeks after sustaining shin splints in classic fashion. Would like to work back up to ~25k/week as have signed up for a half marathon in May, though I'm not sure how compatible this is with hard climbing training?

S - snow! Walk/frolic in the morning, and then quite a heavy afternoon in terms of workload - shoulder mobility/stability followed by limit bouldering, felt quite strong. Then forearm curls/prehab, scapula activations, ring core, and ring IYT's/sequence 1's

Quite a backlogged week session-wise (a growing habit), though probably an inevitability given free-time availability on weekends vs weekdays. Starting to let the stretching/flexibility side of things slip a bit, need to get on top of this.

Don't really have any concrete goals as I don't know how long it'll be until I'm out on the rock again! But have a few board projects I'd like to feel tangibly stronger on. Enjoying the process at the moment

Welcome!

I guess it's related to one's own climbing background, and would be different if we were gym-bred bolt clipping youth. And I'm not saying sport routes are a generic experience and just about the grade at all. But they are mostly about the quality and intensity of the movement, whereas in trad things like the history, the line, the name play a far bigger role.

If I had to name a sport route right now I'd say Ixion (7a), and it is a lovely route with excellent climbing. But I don't intend to go to Kalymnos this year and even if I did, viewed dispassionately it's "just" one of dozens of excellent routes at its grade on the island.

Does it matter to the modern 8a aspirant that something like Statement is a historic landmark put up by a legend of yore? I get the impression LPT is out of fashion these days except for North Wales locals.

I don't know if I'm a modern 8a aspirant, I'm probably too "not modern" these days, but I'd love to do Statement. It looks very fall offable, on my one day at LPT I saw someone who was climbing it very smoothly, that kind of thing where they fall off (repeatedly) and you sort of wonder why.

I think LPT is probably a difficult place to do a hard project from afar - tides, conditions etc. I suspect its popularity being concentrated amongst relative locals (even if their locality temporarily comes from living in the cave at Parisellas!) isn't a new thing?

I think this is right, and I would also add to quality and intensity of movement, the knowledge that they are pushing you to your limit. I haven't expressed that we'll but I think when something is at the limit of your ability it provides additional motivation. The key point is I suppose that these things that are most motivating about a sport route or boulder are things you only find out about once you have tried it, and also to some extent are unique to you as an individual. So, they don't fit well in such a thread like the best trad routes do.

I'm not sure about that. Personally I have never been that interested in the history of climbs or who the first ascensionist was per se, and I've been climbing for well over 15 years now. Thant doesn't stop me finding classic routes inspiring.  As far as 8As go I expect Statement is fairly popular - at least I don't think the location is a reason for it not to be, since plenty of people travel a long way to climb at Parisellas - but there are lots of good ones too in other places around the country like Cheedale or Malham. Harder sport climbing hasn't gone the way of grotty quarries for the most part, I would say the better travelled routes that I'm aware of are all pretty good and in great climbing locations that rank alongside LPT in terms of quality of crag.

I used to go the the Orme fairly regularly when I lived in Manchester, although rarely downstairs, but I suppose that is relatively local - hour and a half except on Bank Holidays

Week 3

M – Board warm-up; 6B+ to 7A+. 2 of each grade selected by most repeats. All flash or 2nd go. 1-arm Max-hangs; BW-10kg. Felt hard, then put myself on the scales and understood why. 55kg rolling thunder 4x 10s lifts. 50x press-up & squat in sets of 10 on-the-minute. Triceps got tired quick; complete 100x4 challenge could be err, challenging? 3x30 crunches; simples.

T – Nothing

W – Day off work again; in-laws on hand for child wrangling support. Board warm-up then an hour of trying hard on projects. Did the 3 individual moves on a dynamic 7C benchmark but didn’t link it, followed by one of my remaining 7A+ benchmarks. Finished with an-cap triples using 6 different 7A benchmarks and much shorter rest periods than Crimpd app (15s, 45s, 3min). Focused on big moves – felt fairly steady, could have gone a bit harder? Skin trasher though; ripped a callus clean off. Did 6 rounds 10x dish-tuck/press-up/squat (felt easier than Monday) and 3x10 wrist extensors.

T – Rushed strength session: Lattice block lifts @55kg. Hard 2nd day on. 3x10s RT lifts @47.5kg. Lighter weights mean I can engage wrist more instead of pinching. Not sure which is the official best form, but feels more applicable for climbing like this.

F – Rest. Bit of stretching.

S – Board. Smashed it. Bunch of new 6C-7A flashes or 2nd go problems to warm-up, then Went BIG and managed “Go Big or Go Home” a Megos 7C benchmark. Exceeded expectations and completed two further 7B x2 benchmarks. Midnight child wrangling then included rotator cuff and extensor exercises.

S – Distinctly lacklustre from series of nights with disturbed sleep; 50min walk with sproggle in the snow and evening COMPEX core/groin rehab (lack of biking seems to have benefited groin strain recently, but my waistline has grown from almost zero cardio).

Thanks Alan,

Another week where I really do feel like I probably needed a de-load week. I’ve just reduced things a bit here and there and gone where my psyche has been. A combination of lockdown, not getting out due to rain and been doing the same exercises for 6 weeks now. So all to be expected. The next phase is planned out already.

But in the sessions where my psyche has been high I’ve noted some real improvements in my strength work, so that’s always good.

M – supposed to be max hangs and strength. Changed to density hangs and endurance conditioning as I was feeling very tired

T – nothing – work

W – nothing - work

T – Strength A + 5:3:5 + Mobility – trying Mercedes Polmier’s hip protocol. Feels good.

F – nothing - work

S – Strength B + mobility

S – Power A + max hangs + mobility

Next week is my STG week so I’l repost my goals etc then.

I may treat next week as a deload as I am due one, I’m going to start the specific strength and power work instead of the general conditioning AND WE’RE BUILDING A HOME WALL! So that will give me something to do

So excited about the wall. 2.4 metres wide, 2.7 m of climbing height at a 35 degree angle. This kind of decided itself due to room constraints. But should be ok for bouldering and some fitness work with smart hold use.

Just getting a starter set of around 50 wooden holds and then some core resin jugs (for a circuit) and footholds to get started. The plan is to add holds to it as we go along and learn and maybe treat ourselves to a DTB LED unit at some point. It will be symmetrical to take full advantage of this.

One idea we’ve had is to use a couple of route setters we know to come and set 20 problems each across a range of grades (once lockdown is over)  which will mean we’re not working our strengths and give us some variety.

On a related note – how much are companies charging for home walls now? OMG. £5100 for a Wideboyz free standing wall that’s two moves long. £8k for a Moonboard. I’m stunned…..

I’m hoping to get out to Trowbarrow today for another tussle with Ned’s or Pit Problem and maybe again on Thursday. Today won't be a send day i don't think. I feel tired and have DOMS but you never know. The weekend will be wall building and testing my STG's.

If you ever find an opportunity to head in the right direction I would be happy to join you (only 90 minutes from here, or maybe we should organise a family holiday to Llandudno!) It would be a good excuse to get back on a rope.

It's pretty obscene! I'm assuming they've done their research and it must sell. I liked the idea of not having legs to collide with but even in the video you can see the top of the board springing when Pete falls off it. I'd rather save a few grand and have big wooden legs than have to deal with a bouncy board!

A Sheffield friend has a Moonboard that has the last 18" cantilevered above the mounting beam; even that is springy with my lard-arse swinging on it, so I'd hate to think what a true standalone would be like. Chunky legs has got to be the way forward.

https://eveningsends-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/eveningsends.com/from-weak-...

looks to be a more recent version...

My hopes had been that we could make a decent length trip to the Frankenjura this year but the mutterings and murmurings of delays, harder quarantine (2 weeks in a hotel room with 2 children?!) and so on are starting to sap my belief.

If that doesn't happen then we will probably double down on UK trips, and something like that could be pretty cool!

When we eventually move into our new house I'm planning on using 2x6s for the frame, should be nice and sturdy! Just need to figure out whether I should orient it with a risk of swinging into the wall or the window...

Cheers Alan, hope the prehab is going well and you will be out and about soon. 

Slow start to the week with a niggle in the knee and heel. 

Monday, rest day.

Tuesday, stretch session

Wednesday, 8km gentle leg loosener

Thursday, another gentle run, just the 5k

Friday, morning meetings cancelled so out for a very muddy 21km trail run

Saturday, 7km run

Sunday, 8km run in the snow, great fun

There was one thing I intended to ask about in my main reply but it must've slipped out of mind:

As a larger guy, I often struggle with narrow compression, especially on opposing crimps shoulder width apart - is this something anyone has ever tried to train before? As it's near the limit of range it won't be effective to train flyes with dumbbells or rings as there would be minimal resistance, aside from perhaps building a wooden box to squeeze I can't really think of any effective way to train it!

Haha! Great description! -Pimhill comes to mind for the cous cous end of the spectrum!

I'm always a bit paranoid about Shropshire sandstone during winter... I never know what I can get away with (from a snapping holds point of view) given how we don't seem to get more than 36h rain-free at the moment. I should probably be a bit more chilled about it, especially as my main project (Eliminator (f6C)) is big, solid holds!

Wow! That's a massive gap... Makes me feel better at being +4kg stronger open compared to half-crimp! I've been doing the same over the last few weeks and dropping the weight to focus on sticking to a strict half-crimp. 

Hah, yeah I remember once a few years back with no guide or idea of routes pottering around Pimhill with a friend trying to toprope a few things, ended up on some dirty crack with loads of snappy veins and flakes, while getting eaten alive by mozzies. To speed things up my friend walked back and drove off with his climbing shoes still on, which made for an interesting journey!

I've not been to The Prow for a while but I remember it drying surprisingly quick, but I imagine the muddy topout will need a few good days to be proper dry. Though it comes to mind that the bottom of the big pinch might have a seepy seam, but I've not been there for ages so can't say for sure.

That is mental! Over ten times my total spend (although that doesn't factor in my not-inconsiderable hourly rate!) and my board is bigger and better ;-p I guess it's the balance of cash versus convenience... at the start of lockdown I had more time than money, at other times of life that would be reversed!

Edit to add: just watched the promo video the whole way through and actually that WB wall does look pretty neat! Makes me realise how shonky my build quality was! 

Quite. I was shocked at the price of Dave Mac's freestanding hangboard mount, but I wonder how much of that is QA & liability insurance? I certainly wouldn't want to be responsible for anybody else hanging on mine.

I've gone for 2x8 for the frame outers and 2x6 for the bracing. it's going into floor joists above and into a concrete floor below. Having just brought the 3 8x4 plywood panels into the garage I am appreciating the fact I went 'sturdy' they weight a ton.

I think it's actually surprising how little you swing out from a board. I have never landed more than 12-18 inches back from the top of mine. I suppose you'd need to worry more of you were putting massive jugs on it and trying double dynos. If it's literally right there with no space at all, I think a wall sounds more sensible than window (and you could always put a thin bit of padding on it.)

Also worth saying, I agree £5k is a lot of money for an 8*8 board, but if you want to build a good size board yourself and do it to last with nice holds, you can still end up spending a lot. I am close to £3k now spent on my entirely DIY board. Some of that was power tools and some is holds of course. But I already had all the mats I needed.

In that case I think facing the wall is the way to go - the room is slightly rectangular so a window swing yields more room, but I think there should be just enough room for a wall swing unless I do some crazy moves!